First Principles
Shoreditch
A few years ago, I spent six months in Shoreditch, an unbelievable fact to anyone that knows me. Shoreditch is a trendy area of London filled with hipsters, cool kids, creatives, freelancers, nomads, and startup founders glued to their laptops in coffee shops. One day, my washing machine broke down, and I needed my laundry done immediately. With no time for apps - unfortunate for an early investor in Laundryheap, I walked into the local laundrette for the first time.
After loading up my clothes, the owner struck up a conversation and offered me a coffee. I thought it was a strange question in a laundrette, but he then gestured towards a separate room. Behind the wall was a coffee shop and co-working space. Intrigued, I peeked inside and saw people working away, sipping cappuccinos, and actually enjoying themselves.
Curious, I asked the owner how this setup came about. He explained that when he first took over the laundrette, he noticed a clear problem. While laundrettes are resilient businesses, customers generally dislike using them. So he started asking his customers questions, trying to figure out why they hated the experience so much.
The common theme? Dead time. The act of washing clothes wasn’t the issue; it was the wasted hours spent waiting for cycles to finish. He realised that if he could make that time productive and enjoyable, he’d solve the real pain point. So he turned his laundrette into a space where customers wanted to spend time. By adding good coffee, strong WiFi, and a comfortable workspace, he transformed the entire experience. What used to be a chore became an opportunity to work, relax, or connect. The laundrette didn’t just survive—it thrived.
This is first principles thinking in action. The owner stripped the problem down to its core truths and rebuilt a better solution from the ground up. At some point, the workspaces and coffee shop became so popular that the owner had to introduce a rule: access was only granted to those doing their laundry. When that didn’t slow down how busy it got, I suggested the owner sell memberships. Yes, you read that right—there was now an exclusive community of people for a laundrette, simply because of how cool the workspace environment was.
What Even Is a First Principle?
A first principle is the most basic, foundational truth of something. It’s the bit you can’t break down any further without losing its essence. Aristotle was all about this—he called it "the first basis from which a thing is known." The concept originates in both philosophy and physics, where it refers to the foundational building blocks that cannot be reduced any further. Let’s make it real: take water. To us, it’s a liquid we drink, but at its core, it’s H₂O: two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. That’s the irreducible truth of water. When you understand first principles, you’ve got the power to rethink how you work with them entirely—and that’s where the magic happens. For example, imagine building a bookshelf. While many people would start with buying a pre-made kit or following generic instructions, the first principles approach would involve understanding the materials, dimensions, and structural stability needed to create the shelf. Even someone without a background in carpentry could build something functional and unique by focusing on these basic truths.
How It Works in Real Life
First principles thinking isn’t just some abstract concept for philosophers. It’s a practical tool you can use to tackle problems. Here’s the process:
Challenge your assumptions. What’s everyone just accepting as true?
Break it down. What are the foundational truths here?
Rebuild from scratch. How can you solve this using only the fundamentals?
Take Elon Musk’s famous approach to battery costs. When building Tesla, Musk refused to accept the sky-high prices of traditional batteries. Instead of just tweaking the supply chain, he broke the problem down to first principles: What are the raw materials in a battery? How much do those materials actually cost? By questioning everything, he discovered that the manufacturing process, not the materials, was driving up costs. Armed with this insight, Musk redesigned the process and dramatically reduced battery prices, revolutionising the electric vehicle industry.
Or think back to the laundrette owner:
Start with the fundamentals. The owner identified the core issue: customers hated the wasted time. It wasn’t about the machines or the cost—it was about dead time.
Question everything. He questioned why laundrettes couldn’t be enjoyable. Why do they have to feel like waiting rooms? By challenging these assumptions, he opened the door to a new way of thinking.
Rebuild from scratch. With a fresh perspective, he reimagined the laundrette experience. Adding coffee, WiFi, and a workspace wasn’t about tweaking the existing model—it was about creating something entirely new.
Putting It Into Action
Here’s how you can use first principles thinking in your own life:
Start with the fundamentals. Strip the problem down to the absolute basics. What must be true for this to work? (Think of Musk breaking down battery costs or the laundrette owner identifying wasted time as the real issue.)
Question everything. Challenge assumptions and conventions. Why are things done this way? Are those reasons still valid? (Like Musk questioning traditional battery manufacturing or the laundrette owner rethinking the customer experience.)
Rebuild from scratch. Use only those core truths to create a solution. Forget about “the way it’s always been done.” (Just as Musk redesigned the battery process and the laundrette owner built an entirely new experience.)
Example: Rethinking Education
Let’s try this on something familiar—education. Most people take the traditional classroom model as a given. What if we break it down?
What’s the purpose of education? To transfer knowledge and develop skills.
How do humans learn best? Through active engagement, practice, and feedback.
What are the essentials? Information, guidance, practice opportunities, and assessment.
Armed with these principles, you might design something completely different from rows of desks and lectures. Perhaps a project-based system where students learn by doing, supported by tech that provides instant feedback and adapts to their pace.
Watch Out for These Traps
Stopping too soon. Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’ve hit first principles when you’ve just scratched the surface. Keep digging. (Common error also committed with Product Market Fit)
Confusing tradition with truth. Just because something’s been done forever doesn’t mean it’s fundamental.
Getting stuck in theory. This isn’t about looking smart. The goal is to solve real problems.
Why It Matters
First principles thinking isn’t just for Elon Musk or philosophy enthusiasts. It’s for anyone who wants to tackle tough challenges and find better solutions. By breaking problems down to their core and rebuilding from there, you’ll uncover ideas others miss.
The trick is to stay curious and critical. Don’t settle for easy answers. Keep peeling back the layers until you’re left with undeniable truths. Then, and only then, start building. Whether you end up reinforcing existing methods or creating something completely new, you’ll know exactly why it works—and when it might be time to rethink it again.